This invention relates generally to refrigerated display case. More particularly, the invention relates to an air flow system for a refrigerated merchandiser of the type wherein foods products, for example pre-packaged perishable food products, such as cheese slices, sandwich meat slices, bacon and the like are hung on a peg bar display system.
Refrigerated merchandisers, commonly referred to as display cases, found in supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores may be provided with a peg bar display system wherein pre-packaged, perishable food products, such as cheese slices, sandwich meat slices, bacon and the like, are displayed within an open viewing area. In a typical peg bar display system, such as the prior art peg bar display system 50′ illustrated in FIG. 1, a transversely extending structural bar 52′ is mounted to the back wall of the display case. This structural bar supports, in a cantilevered manner, a plurality of rods 54′ that extend outwardly from the structural bar 52′ into the viewing area. The pre-packaged food products being displayed are hung on these rods 54′, generally by means of slipping a hole in a tab portion extending from the product package over the rod 54′. Additionally, the structural bar 52′ supports, again in a cantilevered manner, rods 56′ that support a price tag molding 58′ that extends transversely across the displayed products, superadjacent the distal ends of rods 54′. To retrieve a food product package from the open viewing area, the consumer may reach into the display case, without opening a door, and simply slide the package off its support rod 54′.
To keep the product refrigerated within the display case, these open-front refrigerated merchandisers customarily have an air curtain that extends from near the top to near the bottom of the display case over the viewing area. Typically, this air curtain is formed by cold air flowing generally vertically downwardly from an outlet at the top of the front of the display case to a warm air return near the bottom of the display case. This air is drawn into the warm air return by a fan that then blows the warmed air over the refrigerated tube coil of a refrigeration evaporator and recycles the air back to the air outlet at the top of the display case through a supply duct that extends along the back wall and across the roof of the display case. Generally, the back wall of the display case is perforated with a plurality of holes that open into the supply duct, whereby a portion of the refrigerated air passing through the supply duct passes through these holes in the perforated back wall of the display case to enter directly into the product viewing area.
Despite the downwardly directed air curtain flowing over the front of the display case and the refrigerated air entering the display case through its perforated rear wall, packaged product disposed at the front of the display case on the distal, that is forward, portion of the rods may not be sufficiently cooled. Product displayed on the rods near the front of the display case may be too warm due to radiant heat from the store, shelf lights located at the front of the display, and ambient air infiltration from the area in front of the case. In an attempt to improve the cooling of packaged product displayed on the forward portion of the rods, it is known in the art to position a flow impervious baffle 60′ superadjacent the peg bar display system 50′, the baffle abutting the rear wall of the display case and extending forwardly to contact the back of the price tag molding as depicted in prior art FIG. 2. The flow impervious baffle serves to direct the air flow entering the display case through the holes in the perforated back wall of the display case essentially horizontally forwardly towards the front of the display case and precludes that air flow from passing downwardly before it reaches the front of the display case. While improving the cooling of the forward positioned product, such conventional flow impervious baffles have not been effective to fully solve the problem of insufficient cooling of the forward positioned product due to warm air infiltration and radiant heat from the store and heat from display lighting.
Accordingly, there still exists a need to improve air flow distribution in the product view area of a display case having a peg bar display system so that forwardly positioned product is sufficiently cooled.